FAQs

Talking to Lenders

Find a Loan Officer that Will Work for You!

The best advice we can give you is to make sure you are working with an experienced, licensed mortgage loan officer. The largest financial transaction of your life is far too important to place into the hands of someone who is not capable of advising you properly and troubleshooting the issues that may arise along the way. But how can you tell?

Here are 4 simple questions your lender absolutely must be able to answer correctly. If they don’t provide the answers, run! Don’t walk. Run to a lender who does!

The ONLY correct answer is that mortgage rates are based on Mortgage Backed Securities or Mortgage Bonds, NOT the 10-year Treasury Note. While the 10-year Treasury Note sometimes trends in the same direction as Mortgage Bonds, it is not unusual to see them move in completely opposite directions. DO NOT work with a lender who has their eyes on the wrong indicators.

A professional lender will have this at their fingertips. At Meridian Home Mortgage, in addition to tracking mortgage backed securities using the latest technologies, we are carefully reviewing all weekly economic reports and events which cause mortgage rates to fluctuate.

The answer may surprise you. When the Fed makes a move, they can change a rate called the “Fed Funds Rate” or “Discount Rate”. These are both very short-term rates that impact credit cards, home equity credit lines, auto loans and the like. On the day of the Fed move, mortgage rates most often will actually move in the opposite direction as the fed change. This is due to the dynamics within the financial markets in response to inflation.

If a lender cannot explain how Mortgage Bonds and interest rates are moving in real time and warn you in advance of a costly intra-day price change, you are talking with someone who is still reading yesterday’s newspaper, and probably not a professional with whom to entrust your home mortgage financing.

Would you work with a stockbroker who is only able to grab yesterday’s paper to tell you how a stock traded, but had no idea what the movement looks like at the present time and what market conditions could cause changes in the near future? No way!

More than likely, this is one of the largest and most important financial transactions you will ever make. You might do this only four or five times in your entire life, but we do this every single day. It’s your home and your future. It’s our profession and our passion.

How to Shop for a Mortgage

Keys to Getting the Best Home Mortgage Loan

It’s always smart to get a few quotes on a major purchase. Taking out a new home mortgage loan is no different. Our experience has shown that most customers are fairly knowledgeable about current rates and willing to make a few calls to “shop around”. But calling around for just the numbers won’t guarantee you will win in the end.

Meridian Home Mortgage has created this Mortgage Shopping Guide as a way to cut through all the numbers – not only identify your best value but place you with the best home mortgage company as well.